From API’s Publications Team

Nutritional deficiencies in mothers can affect her mental health and lead to inconsistent patterns of mother-child interactions, which in turn increases the likelihood of creating an insecure attachment between the mother and child.

The effect can be two-way, since insecure attachment can lead infant depression which often leads to a repressed appetite in the baby. The resulting nutritional deficiencies in the baby can prolong childhood mental illness.

These theories will be discussed in a March issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition article by Purdue University, “Models Linking Nutritional Deficiencies to Maternal and Child Mental Health.”